~ Village Teacher – The Book & Photographs

Favorite Birds: Cardinals

Cardinals, due to their colors and shapes, are arguably the favorite backyard birds of many of us. Yesterday was a cold and very windy day with a bit of snow, which may explain why we had so many of them come to our bird feeder. At one time I counted as many as seven, both males and females, and there could have been others unseen as they gleaned sunflower seeds that had fallen to the ground.

Male Cardinal

Female Cardinal

Male Cardinal approaching feeder

Normally, if a male Cardinal is at the feeder, the females keep a respectful distance, waiting until he leaves. He is only deterred by the Red-bellied Woodpecker which is slightly larger.

Male Cardinal and Red-bellied Woodpecker

On the other hand, female cardinals are not averse to fighting others of their kind for a seat.

Impressive images! The last image is especially my favorite -female birds are beautiful even when they are fighting 🙂
Great narrative – thank you so much for great information on the Cardinal birds, I don’t think I have ever seen one before.